Tomato coring mechanism



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 11,,1945

Dec, 23, 1947. T. M. KANE, SR I 2,433,125

TOMATO CORING MEGHANI SM Fi1ed Deo. 11, 1945 2 SheetsJ-Shet 2 PatentedDec. 23, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOMATO CORING MECHANISM ThomasMichael Kane, Sr., Baltimore, Md.

Application December 11, 1945, Serial No. 634,211

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a machine for removing the cores fromtomatoes.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates the invention,

Figure 1 is a side View of the machine, the cutting tubes being shown inlongitudinal central section;

Figure 2 is an inner side view of the lower half of the internal cuttingtube, showing the core depressor fitting in a slot in the tube;

Figure 3 is an edge view of the core depressor;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the pin holding device which centers thetomatoes below the cutting tubes;

Figure 5 is a view illustrating the manner in which the pin-holdingdevice serves to center the tomato below the cutting tubes.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawing, A indicates a supporting frame forthe mechanism, comprising a base I, an upright part 2, an arm 3 at theupper end of the part 2 and projecting at a right angle thereto, saidarm having a bearing 4 through which the external cutting tube t extendsdownwardly. Closely surrounding the lower part of the tube t is ashorter cutting tube t. The lower ends of both tubes are sharp and may,if desired, be made with fine saw teeth.

A shaft 5, journaled in a suitable bearing in the upright A is rotatableby a drive wheel 5 and this shaft drives a bevel gear 3 which mesheswith a bevel gear I on the cutting tube t and a bevel gear 8 on the tubeif, so that when the shaft is rotated the cutting tubes rotate inopposite directions.

Below the gear 3 an arm 9 projects horizontally from the upright part ofthe frame and this arm supports a tomato centering mechanism D forcentering tomatoes with their cores in alignment with the axes of thecutting tubes, and preventing lateral movement of the tomatoes whilethey are being cored, as hereinafter explained.

Mounted on the base-piece I is a lifting device L comprising ahorizontal disk Z movable upwardly by lever Z and having a dished uppersurface for holding the tomato. By means of this lifting device a tomatoto be cored is moved upwardly into engagement with the centering deviceD. This device comprises a circular block it shown in plan view inFigure 4, having a central opening d through which the cutting tubes mayextend and having a plurality of pinholes (1 circularly arranged, anddiametrically opposite eyelets l0 into which the supporting studs I l,extending downwardly from the horizontal arm 9, extend. The pins, thusarranged in circular rows, are

freely movable and have heads on their upper ends which prevent themfrom dropping out of the holes in the circular block.

As best shown in Figure 5, when a tomato :1: is moved, upwardly intoengagement with the lower ends of the cutting tubes, the pins directlyabove the tomato are moved upwardly by the tomato, while the pins at theside of the tomato remain down. Hence, the sharp coring tubes may severthe core from the tomato and the pins at the side of the tomato willprevent displacement of the latter while the coring tubes are operatingon the tomato.

When the lifting device is lowered the cored tomato passes downwardlyfrom engagement with the coring tubes and the centering pins, and thepins which have been displaced by the tomato drop downwardly again.

During the cutting operation, the device r shown in edge View in Figure3 and in edge view in Figure 2 tends to force the severed coredownwardly.

What I claim is:

A tomato coring machine comprising a suitable support, two verticallyarranged coring tubes, one within the other, said tubes having cuttingedges at their lower ends, means for rotating said tubes simultaneouslyin opposite directions, means for lifting a tomato into engagement withthe cutting edges of the tubes and means for centering the tomato andpreventing it from lateral movement while the cutting tubes areoperating on the tomato, comprising a horizontally arranged supporthaving an opening to permit the cutting tubes to pass through into thetomato and having a plurality of pin holes surrounding said opening andpins movable vertically in said holes, whereby when the tomato is movedupwardly to engage the cutting tubes the pins above the tomato will bemoved upwardly by the tomato and the pins at the side of the tomato willremain down and prevent lateral movement of the tomato.

THOMAS MICHAEL KANE, SR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,152,441 Schlothan Sept. '7,1915 1,448,532 Harding Mar. 13, 1923 1,485,681 Lake Mar. 4, 19242,075,750 Pease Mar. 30, 1937

